It’s Day 30 of my Whole30 challenge (yay!), and it’s time to share my favourite recipes from the month. I’ve mostly stuck with foods I typically eat, but put my creative hat on to add a bit more flavour. I’ve enjoyed the extra challenge to make sure I didn’t feel deprived. For breakfast most days, […]

My health kick continues in fits and starts. I still lapse into old habits just a little too easily. One way I kick-start my healthy eating (and keep going back to when I get off track) is smoothies. I’m not big breakfast eater and a smoothie for breakfast is a nice way to start the […]

I recently bought a box of saucing tomatoes from a fruit and veg co-op, but the tomatoes were much better quality than I expected. I still filled all the empty bottles in the house with tomato and barbecue sauce (recipes coming soon…), but I had lots of perfect tomatoes leftover. Tomato and basil quiche was […]

Last week, I started making another batch of pizza scrolls for my son’s lunch box. When I went to the fridge for the fillings, I spotted some leftover chicken meat (from making broth) and corn kernels (can’t remember what they were from!). So I decided to change tack and make something a little fancier. I used […]

I’ve seriously got to get better at menu planning. Most days, I get to late afternoon and then scrounge around for something to cook for dinner. At least I’m building a repertoire of “pantry and fridge” recipes – meals made from items I usually on hand. So today, it’s sun-dried tomato and feta quiche. They […]

Last Thursday evening, I had a headache, was tired from a week of sick kids and just didn’t feel like cooking. About the time I should have been cooking, I rang my hubby to see if he was on his way home (with the hope that maybe he’d left the office on time and could […]

We’ve recently become a camping family – I haven’t done a lot of camping so it’s a big learning curve. Luckily, we’ve got a camper trailer, so it’s not too rough! For all three of our camping expeditions, we’ve wanted an easy meal for the first night, after setting up camp. Chicken Fajitas has become […]

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to feed my kids (and myself) less processed foods (or at least, process the foods myself, so I know what’s going in them). My kids love sausage rolls, but they contain “mystery meat”. Buying sausage meat to make your own is not much better, so I tried this […]

Time for another yummy lunch recipe: Cornish Pasties – perfect for a wet, windy day (like here today in Perth). Another way for me to avoid eating sandwiches for lunch, and sneak in a few vegetables too. No long story today – let’s go straight to the recipe: Ingredients 2 sheets frozen shortcrust pastry, defrosted […]

Growing up, we always had sandwiches for lunch and now, I’m really not a fan. I’m always looking for different tasty options for lunch and these pizza scrolls really hit the spot. Gourmet Garden fresh herbs make it easy to add a bit more flavour – just simply spread it on with the tomato paste. […]

I haven’t posted many recipes lately, partly because I’m only cooking basic meals thanks to sleep-deprivation and colds. The other reason is great food blogs have great photos, and I’m not happy with my food photography skills (and don’t even talk to me about styling!). I find it difficult to get good photos when I’ve […]

When I lived in Melbourne, there was a great little Japanese lunch bar behind my office building. I loved ducking in for Okonomiyaki and Yakitori (Japanese Vegetable Pancake with Chicken skewers). Admittedly, the thick, sweet Japanese soy sauce and mayonnaise drizzled liberally over them is what I love about these pancakes (and they’ve got vegies […]

falafel; felafel [feh-LAH-fehl] A Middle Eastern specialty consisting of small, deep-fried croquettes or balls made of highly spiced, ground chickpeas. I’ve always been a big fan of kebabs (gyros/yiros/any other names?), especially in the wee hours of the morning after a groove at the nightclubs (OK, it’s been a LONG time since I’ve done that.). […]

I am a long-time subscriber to Delicious magazine, but have to admit that I have a tendency to drool over the pictures, write out a list of recipes I’d like to try, and then put the magazine on the shelf – never to be touched again. However, I’m getting a little bored with my lazy […]

Here is my latest attempt in the quest to get a few more vegetables into my son’s life (and let’s face, my diet could use a few more vegies too!). After having cheese sandwiches for lunch a few too many days in a row (and finally feeling better from the eternal cold that’s been dragging […]

I’ve been looking at ways to get more vegetables into my toddler son’s diet (and my diet as well, really), particularly at lunch time. The guidelines in Australia are to eat 5 serves of vegies a day. He’s only got a couple of molars and finds it difficult to chew salad vegetables (and I get […]

Here’s another simple, family-friendly meal, and another great way to get some vegies into your family’s diet in a tasty way. This is a pastry/base-free quiche, and only uses 3 eggs, so I think it’s a healthy option too. Plus, quiche is such a flexible meal – start with the base recipe and throw in […]

I like making something a bit different for a weekend lunch, so I thought I’d make Savoury Scrolls. I found this recipe from one of my favourite on-line recipe sites Taste.com.au, but didn’t have the ingredients for the filling, so decided to adapt it to what I had in the pantry. Ingredients 2 cups self-raising […]

For my Saturday Lunch Feast, I wanted a second delicious, refreshing salad that would complement the marinated chicken tenderloins. I love the fresh flavours of Asian (particularly Thai and Vietnamese) salads, so I decided to create something in that style, with ingredients that I had on hand. I’m slowly building up a herb garden, and […]

I tend to be traditional when it comes to side dishes – my salad repertoire is the past consisted of tossed salad and coleslaw. I’ve decided to be a bit more adventurous on the salad front, and this Green Pea and Mint Salad, from my Saturday Lunch Banquet, has become my go-to salad when guests […]

I’ve had the “The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook” for years, but I’ve hardly ever cooked anything from it until this year. As part of the Saturday lunch feast I prepared for some friends, I was too lazy to head to the bakery to buy fresh bread, so I decided to make focaccia in the bread […]

Some friends came to our place for lunch on Saturday. There is some cooking history between this couple (well, more particularly, the gentleman) and myself. He is a fantastic cook, and it’s always a treat eating at their place. When they visit us, I want to cook equally impressive meals. This once culminated in me […]